ABRAHAM 


LINCOLN 


CENTENNIAL 


1809 
FEBRUARY  12 

1909 


FOR 

BOYS  AND  GIRLS 


LILIAN  C.  BERGOLD 


LINCOLN  ROOM 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


THE   NATIONAL    LINCOLN   M  o  N  u  M  i .  x  T 


The  National  Lincoln  Monument  at  Springfield  stands  on  an" -eminence 
in  Oak  Ridge  Cemetery,  overlooking  a  forest  of  evergreens.  Upon  the  four 
pedestals  around  its  central  obelisk  stand  the  four  bronze  groups,  represent- 
ing the  four  arms  of  the  service  —  infantry,  cavalry,  artillery,  and  navy. 
Passing  around  the  whole  obelisk  and  pedestal  is  a  band  or  chain  of  shields, 
each  representing  a  state,  the  name  of  which  is  carved  upon  it.  At  the  south 
side  of  the  obelisk  is  a  square  pedestal,  7  feet  high,  supporting  the  statue  of 
Lincoln,  the  pedestal  being  ornamented  with  the  coat-of-arms  of  the  United 
States.  This  coat-of-arms,  in  the  position  it  occupies  on  the  monument, 
is  intended  to  typify  the  constitution  of  the  United  States.  Mr.  Lincoln's 
statue  on  the  pedestal  above  it  marks  the  whole  an  illustration  of  his  position 
at  the  outbreak  of  the  rebellion.  He  took  his  stand  on  the  constitution  as  his 
authority  for  using  the  four  arms  of  the  war  power  of  the  government,  the 
infantry,  cavalry,  artillery,  and  navy,  to  hold  together  the  states  which  are 
represented  still  lower  on  the  monument  by  a  cordon  of  tablets  linking  them 
together  in  a  perpetual  bond  of  union. 

—  By  courtesy  of  E.  S.  Johnson,  Springfield,  Illinois. 


A  I!  KM  LAM    LINCOLN 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

CENTENNIAL 


A  COLLECTION  OF  AUTHENTIC  STORIES, 
WITH  POEMS,  SONGS,  AND  PROGRAMS, 
FOR  THE  BOYS,  GIRLS,  AND  TEACHERS 
OF  ELEMENTARY  SCHOOLS. 

By  LILIAN  C  BERGOLD 

PH.B.  UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO 


EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 

BOSTON 
NEW  YORK  CHICAGO  SAN  FRANCISCO 


COPYRIGHT,  1908 

BY 
EDUCATIONAL  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 


HDotber 


PURPOSE 

One  of  the  greatest  features  of  the  Lincoln  Centennial  should  be 
to  bring  to  the  children  of  this  country  those  elements  of  his  character, 
influence,  and  greatness  which  they  can  appreciate.  The  author 
has  endeavored  to  bring  together  in  usable  form  such  material  as  would 
further  this  purpose.  Many  selections  from  which  parts  have  been 
taken  are  easily  available  and  may  be  well  used  in  full.  Several  of 
the  stories  and  illustrations  have  not  been  hitherto  published. 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

I    Stories  Told  about  Lincoln    5 

II     Stories  Told  by  Lincoln  25 

III  Maxims  and  Sayings  of  Lincoln 30 

IV  Materials  for  Readings  from  Lincoln's  Speeches  and  Letters  32 
V    Poems:   By  Lincoln    -...  38 

Favorites  of  Lincoln    39 

On  Lin  oln   41 

VI    Tributes  to  Lincoln  by  Our  Great  Men  Suitable  for  Readings  44 

VII    Toast  to  the  Flag 47 

Two  Pledge  Salutes  to  the  Flag   48 

VIII     Songs:   Favorites  of  Lincoln   49 

Lincoln  Campaign  Songs 49 

Popular  National  War  Songs    52 

IX     Programs    56 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

St.  Gaudens'  Lincoln  Statue  in  Chicago Cover  Design 

The  National  Lincoln  Monument  at  Springfield Frontispiece 

Portrait  of  Abraham  Lincoln Facing  Title  Page 

A  Rail  Old  Western  Gentleman    17 

The  Lincoln  House  in  1860 24 

Detail  Groups  of  National  Lincoln  Monument Facing  Page  46 

3 


ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

The  author  wishes  to  express  her  appreciation  to  Mr.  Frederick 
G.  Bonser  of  the  Department  of  Education  for  the  helpful  suggestions 
and  encouragement  he  has  offered;  to  Major  E.  S.  Johnson,  Cus- 
todian of  the  National  Lincoln  Monument,  for  kindly  loaning  the  plates 
of  the  Monument  statuary;  and  to  Mr.  J.  McCan  Davis,  for  the  use 
of  the  Lincoln  house  and  cartoon  plates. 

She  also  wishes  to  thank  Mr.  O.  H.  Oldroyd,  The  Century  Com- 
pany, The  Outlook,  McClure,  Phillips  &  Company,  the  Macmillan 
Company,  and  the  S.  Brainard's  Sons  Company,  for  their  courtesy 
in  permitting  the  use  of  copyrighted  material. 

LILIAN  C.  BERGOLD 
State  Normal  School,  Macomb,  Illinois. 


ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

I. 
STORIES   TOLD    ABOUT   LINCOLN 

1-4*  LINCOLN'S  PAPER  SCRAP-BOOKS 

Lincoln  kept  two  scrap-books,  one  for  funny  sayings  or 
fine  passages  from  poems  or  history,  the  other  for  arithme- 
tic sums.  On  a  page  of  this  scrap-book,  under  a  table  of 
weights,  he  wrote: 

Abraham  Lincoln 

his  hand  and  pen 

he  will  be  great  but 

God  knows  when. 


3-5  A  "COPY"  WRITTEN  BY  LINCOLN 

As  Lincoln  was  considered  the  best  penman  in  his 
neighborhood,  he  was  asked  while  on  a  visit  to  write  some 
"copies."  One  of  them  was: 

Good  boys  who  to  their  books  apply 
Will  all  be  great  men  by  and  by. 

*  Figures  before  titles  of  stories  indicate  grades  for  which  they  are  appropriate. 

5 


4-8  How  LINCOLN  PAID  FOR  WEEMS'  LIFE  OF  WASHINGTON 

Lincoln  read  whatever  books  he  could  manage  to  bor- 
row. One  of  these  was  Weems'  "Life  of  Washington," 
which  he  laid  away  carefully  every  night  on  a  "shelf"  or 
clapboard  resting  on  wooden  pins.  One  stormy  night, 
however,  the  book  was  thoroughly  soaked.  Lincoln  was 
allowed  to  keep  the  book  after  he  had  pulled  fodder  three 
days. 

1-8  LINCOLN  SAVES  A  MAN  FROM  FREEZING 

One  night  as  Lincoln  and  some  other  men  were  return- 
ing from  a  "raising,"  he  noticed  a  stray  horse,  saddled  and 
bridled,  in  the  woods,  and  near  by  it  a  man  benumbed  with 
cold. 

"Let's  leave  him,"  said  the  men. 

"No,  he'll  freeze  to  death,"  said  Lincoln. 

With  the  help  of  the  others  he  lifted  the  man  on  the 
horse  and  when  they  reached  a  house,  Lincoln  cared  for 
him  the  rest  of  the  night. 


4-8  RESCUE  OF  A  PIG 

Lincoln  was  one  day  riding  past  a  ditch  in  which  he 
saw  a  pig  trying  in  vain  to  free  itself  from  the  mud.  He 
wanted  to  help  the  pig,  but  as  he  had  on  a  new  suit  of 
clothes,  he  decided  to  ride  by.  The  thought  of  the  poor 
pig  troubled  him  so  much,  however,  that  he  turned  back 
after  he  had  ridden  two  miles  and  dragged  the  pig  out. 


4-8  LINCOLN'S  FIRST  DOLLAR 

Abraham  Lincoln  earned  his  first  dollar  when  about 
eighteen  years  of  age,  by  taking  two  men  and  their  trunks 
by  flat-boat  out  to  a  steamer  in  the  Mississippi  River,  for 
which  they  gave  him  a  silver  half  dollar  each.  Mr.  Lin- 
coln afterward  said:  "I  could  scarcely  believe  my  eyes  as 
I  picked  up  the  money.  It  was  a  most  important  incident 
in  my  eyes.  I  could  scarcely  believe  that  I,  a  poor,  boy, 
had  earned  a  dollar  in  less  than  a  day  —  that  by  honest 
work  I  had  earned  a  dollar.  I  was  a  more  hopeful  and 
confident  being  from  that  time." 

—  By  permission  of  O.  H.  Oldroyd. 

1-8  "ABE'S  LOG"  AT  SANGAMON  TOWN  . 

Sangamon  Town,  where  Lincoln  built  the  flat-boat, 
was  then  one  of  the  flourishing  settlements  on  the  river  of 
that  name.  It  took  some  four  weeks  to  build  the  raft,  and 
in  that  period  Lincoln  succeeded  in  captivating  the  entire 
village  by  his  story-telling.  It  was  the  custom  in  Sangamon 
for  the  "  men-folks  "  to  gather,  when  resting,  in  a  lane  near  the 
mill.  They  had  rolled  out  a  long  peeled  log,  on  which  they 
lounged.  Lincoln  had  not  been  long  in  Sangamon  before 
he  joined  this  circle.  So  irresistibly  droll  were  his  "yarns" 
that  "whenever  he'd  end  up  in  his  unexpected  way  the 
boys  on  the  log  would  whoop  and  roll  off."  The  result  of 
the  rolling  off  was  to  polish  the  log  like  a  mirror.  The  men, 
recognizing  Lincoln's  part  in  this  polishing,  christened  their 
seat  "Abe's  Log." 

—  By  permission  0}  McClure,  Phillips  6°  Co. 


8 

5-8         LINCOLN   SAVES   THREE   MEN   IN   A   SANGAMON 

RIVER  TREE 

Before  Lincoln  left  Sangamon  he  was  the  hero  of  a 
thrilling  adventure.  The  men  were  making  a  dug-out,  to 
be  used  as  a  small  boat  with  the  flat.  After  the  dug-out 
was  ready  to  launch  they  prepared  to  "let  her  go,"  when 
two  men  jumped  in  as  the  boat  struck  water,  each  one  anx- 
iotis  to  be  the  first  to  get  a  ride.  As  they  shot  out  from  the 
shore  they  found  they  were  unable  to  make  any  headway 
against  the  strong  current.  At  last  they  began  to  pull  for 
the  wreck  of  an  old  flat-boat.  Just  as  they  reached  it,  one 
made  a  grab  and  clung  to  the  old  timber,  but  capsized  the 
canoe,  and  threw  the  other  into  the  stream.  Lincoln  yelled 
to  him  to  swim  for  an  old  tree. 

Being  a  good  swimmer,  he  succeeded  in  catching  a 
branch,  and  pulled  himself  up  out  of  the  water.  Finally  the 
second  man  climbed  up  beside  the  first.  Now  there  were  two 
men  in  the  tree  and  the  boat  was  gone.  By  this  time  many 
people  had  come  to  the  bank.  Lincoln  procured  a  rope, 
and  tied  it  to  a  log.  After  all  hands  had  helped  roll  the  log 
into  the  water,  a  daring  young  fellow  took  his  seat  on  the 
log,  and  it  was  pushed  out  into  the  current,  with  the 
expectation  that  it  would  be  carried  down  stream  against  the 
tree  where  the  two  men  were. 

The  log  went  straight  to  the  tree;  but  its  rider,  im- 
patient to  help  his  friends,  made  a  frantic  grab  at  a  branch, 
raised  himself  off  the  log,  which  was  swept  from  under  him, 
and  soon  joined  the  other  two  victims  upon  their  forlorn 
perch.  Lincoln  had  the  log  pulled  up  the  stream,  and, 


securing  another  piece  of  rope,  called  to  the  men  in  the  tree 
to  catch  it  if  they  could,  when  he  should  reach  the  tree. 
When  he  dashed  into  the  tree,  he  threw  the  rope  over  the 
stump  of  a  broken  limb,  and  held  the  log  there  until  the 
three  now  nearly  frozen  men  had  seated  themselves  astride. 
He  then  gave  orders  to  the  people  on  the  shore  to  hold  fast 
to  the  end  of  the  rope  which  was  tied  to  the  log,  and  leav- 
ing his  rope  in  the  tree  he  turned  the  log  adrift.  The  force 
of  the  current,  acting  against  the  taut  rope,  swung  the  log 
around  against  the  bank,  and  all  "on  board"  were  saved. 
— By  permission  of  McClure,  Phillips  fir*  Co. 

3-8  How  LINCOLN  SAVED  A  FLAT-BOAT 

While  floating  down  the  Sangamon  River,  the  flat- 
boat  stuck  on  a  milldam  near  New  Salem.  The  villagers 
watched  from  the  shore  while  one  tall  fellow  worked  out  a 
plan  of  relief.  He  unloaded  the  cargo  into  a  neighboring 
boat,  thus  tilting  the  craft.  Then  by  boring  a  hole  in  the 
end  extending  over  the  dam,  the  water  was  let  out.  After 
plugging  the  hole  he  shoved  off  and  reloaded. 

5-6  THE  GREAT  WRESTLING  MATCH 

At  New  Salem,  Lincoln  soon  became  popular  for  his 
great  strength.  A  friend  boasted  of  him  to  the  rude  but 
good-hearted  "Clary  Grove  Boys,  "who  immediately  pitted 
their  champion,  Armstrong,  against  him.  When  neither 
gained  the  advantage,  Armstrong  resorted  to  foul  play. 
Indignant  at  this,  Lincoln  caught  him  by  the  throat  and 


10 

holding  him  at  arm's  length,  shook  him  like  a  boy. 
Armstrong,  convinced  of  Lincoln's  manhood,  declared  he 
should  be  "one  of  the  boys." 

5-6       CAPTAIN  LINCOLN  FORGETS  THE  PROPER  WORD  OF 

COMMAND 

Lincoln,  while  captain  of  a  company  in  the  Black  Hawk 
War,  was  one  day  crossing  a  field  with  a  front  of  twenty 
men,  when  he  came  to  a  narrow  gate.  Lincoln  could  not 
remember  the  proper  word  of  command  for  ordering  his 
men  to  form  single  file,  so  he  shouted:  "Halt!  This  com- 
pany is  dismissed  for  two  minutes.  It  will  reassemble  on 
the  other  side  of  the  fence.  Break  ranks!"  The  maneuver 
was  successful. 

3-8      LINCOLN'S  HABIT  OF  CARRYING  LETTERS  IN  His  HAT 

As  business  in  Lincoln's  store  at  New  Salem  was  slack, 
he  also  became  postmaster  and  kept  the  letters  in  the  crown 
of  his  hat  while  delivering  them.  Years  later  he  failed  to 
answer  a  letter  promptly  because  he  had  put  it  in  his  old 
hat  and  lost  sight  of  it  the  next  day,  when  he  bought  a  new 
one. 

5-6      How  LINCOLN  KEPT  His  POST-OFFICE  COLLECTIONS 

After  Lincoln  had  left  New  Salem  and  gone  to  Spring- 
field, the  traveling  post-office  agent  called  to  collect  the 
money  of  the  United  States  still  in  his  possession.  A  friend 
offered  to  loan  Lincoln  the  money  to  settle  up  his  post-office 


II 


account,  but  he  replied,  "Thank  you  very  much,  but  I  have 
all  the  money  in  my  trunk  which  belongs  to  the  government." 
The  identical  silver,  quarters  and  twelve-and-a-half  cent 
pieces,  were  safely  put  away  in  an  old  sock  in  his  trunk. 


1-8         LINCOLN,  His  Two  WAILING  BOYS,  AND  THREE 

WALNUTS 

A  neighbor  of  Mr.  Lincoln  in  Springfield  tells  the  fol- 
lowing story.  He  was  called  to  the  door  one  day  by  hearing 
a  great  noise  of  children  crying,  and  there  was  Mr.  Lincoln 
striding  by  with  two  of  his  boys,  both  of  whom  were  wail- 
ing aloud.  "Why,  Mr.  Lincoln,  what's  the  matter  with 
the  boys?"  he  asked. 

"  Just  what's  the  matter  with  the  whole  world,"  Lin- 
coln replied;   "I've  got  three  walnuts  and  each  wants  two." 
—  By  permission  of  McClure,  Phillips  &  Co. 


1-4  How  TAD  WAS  NAMED 

Mr.  Lincoln  while  living  in  Springfield  had  purchased 
a  new  horse  which  he  named  "Tom."  Soon  after,  while 
out  for  a  drive,  he  found  that  every  time  he  spoke  to  the 
horse  his  son  "Thomas"  would  reply,  so  he  said:  "This 
will  never  do,  but  I  cannot  change  the  horse's  name,  so  I 
shall  change  the  boy's."  Accordingly  Thomas  Lincoln 
became  "Tad." 
—  Told  the  author  by  Mrs.  Edwards,  a  niece  of  Mrs.  Lincoln".' 


12 

i-4  LINCOLN  AND  THE  YOUNG  BIRDS 

Lincoln,  Speed,  and  others  were  riding  toward  Spring- 
field, and  had  stopped  to  water  their  horses.  Hardin  at  the 
rear  came  up  alone.  "Where  is  Lincoln?"  they  asked. 
"Oh,"  he  said,  "he  caught  two  young  birds  which  had 
been  blown  out  of  their  nest,  and  is  hunting  the  nest  to  put 
them  back." 

2-6      LINCOLN  CARRIES  A  LITTLE  GIRL'S  TRUNK  TO  THE 

STATION 

Lincoln  was  always  doing  some  kind  deed  for  children. 
A  little  girl  was  going  to  take  her  first  trip  alone  on  the  rail- 
road. When  train  time  came  near,  the  hackman  had  not 
gotten  her  trunk.  Fearing  she  would  miss  her  train  she 
stood  by  the  gate  crying  as  if  her  heart  would  break.  Just 
then  Mr.  Lincoln  came  by.  He  asked  what  the  trouble  was, 
then  about  the  size  of  the  trunk,  and  pushed  through  the 
gate  to  where  it  stood.  "  Come  quick,"  he  said,  and  shoulder- 
ing the  trunk,  hurried  out  of  the  yard  and  down  the  street. 
They  reached  the  station  in  time. 


1-8  How  TAD  INTERRUPTED  A  GAME  OF  CHESS 

One  day  Mr.  Lincoln  was  playing  chess  with  Judge 
Treat,  when  Tad  came  to  bring  his  father  home  to  supper. 
As  Mr.  Lincoln  made  no  show  of  starting,  Tad  tried  to 
shake  the  board,  but  was  kept  away  by  his  father's  long 
arm.  Soon  Mr.  Lincoln  was  watching  the  game  so  carefully, 


13 

that  he  failed  to  notice  Tad.  Before  long,  the  table  sud- 
denly bucked,  and  chess-board  and  pieces  went  to  the  floor. 
The  Judge  was  vexed,  but  Mr.  Lincoln  only  said  as  he 
took  his  hat,  "Considering  the  position  of  your  pieces 
at  the  time  of  the  upheaval,  you  need  not  complain,  Judge." 


5-8  JUDGE  LOGAN'S  SHIRT 

Lincoln  once  took  an  amusing  advantage  of  Judge 
Logan's  lack  of  sense  of  humor. 

"Gentlemen,"  he  began,  "you  must  be  careful  and 
not  permit  yourselves  to  be  overborne  by  the  eloquence  of 
the  counsel  for  defense.  But  shrewd  and  careful  though 
Judge  Logan  be,  still  he  is  sometimes  wrong.  Since  the 
trial  began  I  have  discovered  that,  with  all  his  caution,  he 
hasn't  knowledge  enough  to  put  his  shirt  on  right." 

Logan  turned   crimson  with  embarrassment   and  the 
jurors  burst  into  a  roar  of  laughter  as  they  discovered  that 
the  discomfited  advocate  was  wearing  the  garment  in  ques- 
tion with  the  plaited  bosom  behind,  and  for  the  rest  of  that 
trial  Logan  was  not  effective  against  his  former  partner. 
-From  "Lincoln  the  Lawyer"    By  permission  of  The 
Century  Company. 


5-8        LINCOLN  REFUSES  TO  DEFEND  A  GUILTY  CLIENT 

On  one  occasion,  when  it  developed  that  his  client  had 
indulged  in  fraudulent  practices,  Lincoln  walked  out  of  the 
court-room  and  refused  to  continue  the  case.  The  judge 


sent  a  messenger  directing  him  to  return.  "Tell  the  judge 
that  my  hands  are  dirty  and  I've  gone  away  to  wash  them," 
was"  his  disgusted  reply. 

-  By  permission  of  The  Century  Company. 


5-8  LINCOLN  DISCOURAGES  SHARP  PRACTICES 

"Yes,"  Mr.  Herndon  reports  Lincoln  as  advising  a 
client,  "we  can  doubtless  gain  your  case  for  you;  we  can 
set  a  whole  neighborhood  at  loggerheads;  we  can  distress 
a  widowed  mother  and  her  six  fatherless  children,  and 
thereby  get  for  you  six  hundred  dollars  to  which  you  seem 
to  have  a  legal  claim,  but  which  rightfully  belongs,  it  ap- 
pears to  me,  as  much  to  the  woman  and  her  children  as  it 
does  to  you.  You  must  remember,  however,  that  some 
things  legally  right  are  not  morally  right.  We  shall  not 
take  your  case,  but  we  will  give  you  a  little  advice  for  which 
we  will  charge  you  nothing.  You  seem  to  be  a  sprightly, 
energetic  man.  We  would  advise  you  to  try  your  hand  at 
making  six  hundred  dollars  in  some  other  way." 

-  By  permission  oj  The  Century  Company. 


5-8  LINCOLN'S  HONESTY 

Even  in  a  community  where  plain  straightforward 
dealing  was  assumed  as  a  matter  of  course,  Lincoln  won  an 
enviable  reputation  for  integrity  and  honor.  Honesty  was 
not  merely  the  best  policy;  the  people  were  expected  to  be 
upright  and  just  with  one  another.  But  when  a  clerk  in 


a  country  store  walked  miles  to  deliver  a  few  ounces  of  tea 
innocently  withheld  from  a  customer  by  an  error  in  the 
scales,  and  when  he  made  a  long,  hard  trip  in  order  to  re- 
turn a  few  cents  accidentally  overpaid  him,  he  was  talked 
about,  and  the  fact  is  that  "Honest  Abe"  was  a  tribute, 
not  a  nick-name. 

—By  permission  of  The  Century  Company. 


LINCOLN'S  HONESTY  IN  REGARD  TO  FEES 

A  gentleman  at  Quincy,  Illinois,  had  leased  a  house 
owned  by  a  lady  of  Springfield.  He  employed  Lincoln  to 
execute  the  lease  for  him.  Lincoln  sent  the  lease  to  him  at 
Quincy,  but  made  no  mention  of  his  pay.  Thereupon  the 
gentleman  sent  Lincoln  twenty-five  dollars,  thinking  that 
to  be  about  the  right  amount.  In  a  few  days  to  his  sur- 
prise he  received  a  letter  from  Lincoln,  acknowledging  the 
receipt  of  his  check  and  returning  a  ten-dollar  bill,  with 
the  words:  "You  must  think  I  am  a  high-priced  man. 
Fifteen  dollars  is  enough  for  the  job." 


LINCOLN'S  SUIT  AGAINST  THE  ILLINOIS  CENTRAL 
RAILROAD 

The  Illinois  Central  Railroad  declined  to  pay  Lincoln's 
bill  of  two  thousand  dollars  for  services  rendered  in  the 
action  brought  against  McLean  County,  and  he  promptly 
withdrew  his  account  and  sued  his  ungrateful  client  for  six 
thousand.  On  the  trial  of  the  action  all  the  leaders  of  the 


i6 

Illinois  Bar  testified  that  Lincoln's  amended  bill  was  reason- 
able, and  the  jury  promptly  brought  in  a  verdict  of  five 
thousand  dollars  and  costs. 

—  By  permission  of  The  Century  Company. 

5-8      LINCOLN  HAS  A  "DOGEROTYPE"  TAKEN  AT  MACOMB, 

ILLINOIS,  IN  1858 

In  1858  Lincoln  had  been  announced  to  make  a  speech 
on  the  "Square"  at  Macomb,  Illinois.     When   he   finally 
appeared  Mr.  William  Bross  of  Chicago  asked : 
"What  made  you  late,  Mr.  Lincoln?" 
"Oh,"   he  answered,  "I've  been  having  my  dogerotype 
taken  in  the  wagon  on  the  next  street." 

-  Told  by  Mr.  C.  V.  Chandler,  owner  of  a  photograph 
taken  from  this  "dogerotype,"  to  the  author. 

7-8          How  OGLESBY,  JOHN  HANKS  AND  Two  FENCE 
RAILS  KILLED  SEWARD'S  BOOM 

As  the  time  for  the  State  Convention  of  1860,  at  Decatur, 
was  drawing  near,  "Dick"  Oglesby,  afterwards  Governor  of 
Illinois,  foresaw  that  Lincoln's  possibility  as  a  presidential 
candidate  would  be  endangered  if  the  delegation  from  Illinois 
were  divided.  He  therefore  planned  to  do  something  that 
would  "kill  the  Seward  Boom,"  and  make  the  State  dele- 
gation solid  for  Lincoln.  He  was  one  day  talking  with 
John  Hanks,  a  Democrat,  and  cousin  of  Lincoln,  about 
"Abe,"  when  John  began  to  tell  about  some  rails  he  and 
Lincoln  had  split  near  Decatur,  to  put  up  a  fence.  Oglesby 


17 

immediately  asked  if  Hanks  supposed  he  could  find  any  of 
the  rails.  Hanks  replied  that  when  he  had  last  been  there, 
ten  years  before,  there  were  plenty  of  them  left.  So  Ogles  by 
and  Hanks  drove  to  the  old  clearing  the  next  day,  and  as 
soon  as  Hanks  whittled  the  old  rails  with  his  knife,  he  knew 


"  A  RAIL  OLD  WESTERN  GENTLEMAN." 

A  caricature  of  the  campaign  of  1860.  From  the  Oldroyd  collection,  Washing- 
ton, D.  C. 

— By  permission.  From  "  How  Abraham  Lincoln  Became  President"  by  J.  McCan 
Davis. 


they  were  the  very  same  black  walnut  and  honey  locust 
rails.  The  men  then  took  two  of  the  rails,  tied  them  under 
the  buggy  and  hid  the  rails  in  Oglesby's  barn  until  the  day 
of  the  convention.  He  in  the  meantime  planned  that 


i8 

Hanks  should  bring  them  into  the  convention  with  these 
words  on  a  banner  fastened  across  the  top  of  the  rails: 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

The  Rail  Candidate  for  President  in  1860. 

Two  rails  from  a  lot  of  three  thousand  made  in  1830  by  John  Hanks 

and  Abe  Lincoln,  whose  father  was  the  first  pioneer  of 

Macon   County. 

When  the  convention  was  well  under  way,  Oglesby 
announced  that  an  old  Democrat  wanted  to  make  a  con- 
tribution to  the  convention.  Then  Hanks  came  in  with  the 
rails  and  spoke  familiarly  to  Lincoln  as  he  passed  him. 
There  was  a  cry  of  "Speech!  Speech!"  and  when  Lincoln 
finally  showed  himself,  the  crowd  was  so  dense  that  they 
passed  him  hand  over  hand  over  the  solid  mass  of  people 
to  the  platform.  It  was  a  strange  sight  to  see  this  long  man 
being  handed  over  the  people's  heads.  The  next  day  Hanks 
got  a  wagon  load  of  rails  and  sold  them  for  a  dollar  a  piece. 
From  that  time  on  the  supply  seemed  endless.  The  two 
fence  rails  killed  the  Seward  Boom. 


7-8          HOMES  OF  LINCOLN  AND  Louis  THE  FOURTEENTH 

A  Frenchman  who  saw  the  replica  of  the  Springfield 
home  of  Lincoln  at  the  Lewis  and  Clark  Exposition  said: 
"I  have  seen  the  bed  chamber  of  Louis  the  Fourteenth, 
and  I  cannot  but  think  of  the  great  contrast  between  the 
simplicity  of  your  grand  man  and  the  grandeur  of  our  sim- 
ple man."  —  Alfred  Bayliss. 


6-8  LATITUDE  AND  LONGITUDE  OF  LINCOLN'S  SOCKS 

Lincoln  was  noted  for  his  kind  heart  and  good  humot. 
Shortly  before  leaving  for  Washington,  Lincoln  was  enter- 
taining an  important  delegation  from  Massachusetts,  when 
an  old  lady,  her  tanned  face  peering  out  from  her  sun- 
bonnet,  arrived.  Her  errand  was  to  present  Lincoln  with 
a  pair  of  very  long  socks.  Holding  them  up  by  the  toes 
he  exclaimed,  "Well,  gentlemen,  I  think  she  has  my  lati- 
tude and  longitude  about  right." 

3-6      A  LITTLE  GIRL  INDUCES  LINCOLN  TO  WEAR  A  BEARD 

On  his  way  to  Washington  as  President,  Lincoln  stopped 
at  Westfield,  Massachusetts,  to  speak  for  a  few  minutes. 
In  his  talk  he  referred  humorously  to  a  letter-  received  from 
a  little  Westfield  girl,  advising  him  to  wear  a  beard  to  im- 
prove his  looks.  Stroking  his  chin  he  said,  "I  intend  to 
follow  her  advice,"  and  from  then  on  he  wore  a  beard. 
He  added  that  if  she  were  present  he  would  like  to  meet  her. 

6-8  DOUGLAS  HOLDS  LINCOLN'S  HAT 

When  Lincoln  was  about  to  deliver  his  first  inaugural 
address  on  the  east  portico  of  the  Capitol,  he  vainly  looked 
for  a  spot  where  he  might  place  his  high  silk  hat.  Stephen 
A.  Douglas,  his  political  antagonist,  was  seated  just  behind 
him.  He  stepped  forward  quickly,  and  took  the  hat  which 
Mr.  Lincoln  held  helplessly  in  his  hand.  "If  I  can't  be 
President,"  he  whispered  smilingly  to  a  cousin  of  Mrs.  Lin- 
coln, "I  at  least  can  hold  his  hat." 


20 

7-8 

A  Northern  gentleman  requested  a  pass  to  Richmond. 
•  "A  pass  to  Richmond!"  exclaimed  the  President,  "Why, 
my  dear  sir,  if  I  should  give  you  one  it  would  do  you  no  good. 
You  may  think  it  very  strange,  but  there  are  a  lot  of  fellows 
who  are  prejudiced  against  every  man  who  totes  a  pass 
from  me.  I  have  given  McClellan  and  more  than  two 
hundred  thousand  others  passes  to  Richmond,  and  not  one 
of  them  has  yet  gotten  there!" 

—  By  permission  of  O.  H.  Oldroyd. 


5-8  BETSY  ANN  —  THE  WASHERWOMAN 

One  day  an  ex-governor  gained  the  President's  ear. 
Presently  he  began:  "Mr.  President,  I  want  to  speak  to 
you  about  the  case  of  Betsy  Ann  Dougherty.  She  was  my 
washerwoman  for  a  long  time,  but  now  her  husband  has 
joined  the  rebel  army.  I  wish  you  would  give  her  a  pro- 
tection paper."  Mr.  Lincoln  saw  how  ridiculous  the  re- 
quest was,  but  concealed  his  amusement  and  asked:  "Was 
Betsy  Ann  a  good  washerwoman?"  "Yes,  sir.  Very  good 
indeed.  Couldn't  you  write  something  to  the  officers?" 
Mr.  Lincoln,  after  asking  more  questions  of  a  like  nature, 
wrote  the  following  on  a  calling  card: 

"Let  Betsy  Ann  Dougherty  alone,  as  long  as  she 
behaves  herself.  A.  LINCOLN." 

"No,"  he  replied,  "officers  have  no  time  now  to  read 
letters.  Tell  her  to  put  a  string  in  this  card  and  hang  it 


21 

around  her  neck.  When  they  see  this  they  will  let  her  alone." 
Such  ludicrous  scenes  gave  him  relief  from  his  overwhelming 
cares. 

3-8  SOME  LITTLE  GIRLS  AT  THE  WHITE  HOUSE 

One  afternoon  three  poorly  clad  little  girls  had  followed 
the  crowd  into  the  White  House  to  a  reception.  Lincoln 
noticing  them  passing,  called  out,  "Little  girls,  are  you 
going  to  pass  me  without  shaking  hands?"  Then  bending 
down  he  greeted  them  warmly. 

5-8  LINCOLN  AND  THE  RUSSIAN  AMBASSADOR 

At  a  levee  at  the  White  House,  the  Russian  Ambassa- 
dor stood  talking  to  the  President,  when  the  President 
asked  him  this  question:  "Would  you  have  taken  me  for 
an  American  if  you  had  met  me  anywhere  else  than  in  this 
country?" 

"No,"  said  the  distinguished  Muscovite,  who,  like  Old 
Abe,  was  a  bit  of  a  wag,  "I  should  have  taken  you  for  a 
Pole." 

"So  I  am,"  exclaimed  the  President,  straightening 
himself  up  to  his  full  height,  "and  a  Liberty  Pole  at  that." 

-  By  permission  of  O.  H.  Oldroyd. 

3-6  How  TAD  SIGNALLED  TO  His  FATHER 

Lincoln  was  listening  to  an  account  of  one  of  Grant's 
battles,  when  a  gentle  knocking  resounded  on  the  door  to 
which  Lincoln  paid  no  heed.  Then  the  door  knob  was 


22 

rattled  and  a  childish  voice  called,  "Unfasten  the  door." 
Lincoln  drew  the  bolt,  and  Little  Tad,  then  ten  years  old, 
bounced  in,  and  jumped  upon  his  father's  lap. 

The  little  fellow  was  in  the  habit,  if  he  awoke  in  the 
night,  of  creeping  into  his  father's  bed;  but  on  this  occasion, 
not  rinding  him,  had  come  over  to  the  office,  which  was  on 
the  same  floor. 

Lincoln,  with  Tad  on  his  knee,  began  to  teach  him  to 
make  a  certain  signal  by  tapping  on  the  desk  with  Tad's 
fist  doubled  up  in  his  own  big,  bony  hand.  Telegraphy 
had  been  introduced  but  a  short  time  before. 

There  were  seven  quick  raps,  followed  by  two  slower 
ones,  thus  -  — ,  and  over  and  over 

again  these  dots  and  dashes  were  sounded  on  the  desk  un- 
til Tad  made  the  signal  correctly  without  his  father's  help. 

Tad  had  been  taught  to  make  this  signal  on  the  office 
door,  whenever  he  wanted  to  come  in,  and  had  forgotten 
to  make  it,  so  his  father  paid  no  attention  to  the  disturb- 
ance till  he  heard  the  voice. 

—  By  permission  of  The  Century  Company. 


7-8  ATTENDING  TO  THE  DETAILS  OF  THE  ARMY 

"Now,  my  man,  go  away,  go  away"  General  Fry 
overheard  Lincoln  say  one  day  to  a  soldier  who  was  plead- 
ing for  the  President's  interference  in  his  behalf.  "I  can- 
not meddle  in  your  case.  I  could  as  easily  bail  out  the 
Potomac  with  a  teaspoon  as  attend  to  all  the  details  of  the 
army." 


23 

4-8  LINCOLN  ON  His  ANCESTRY 

Concerning  his  ancestry  Lincoln  said,  "I  don't  know 
who  my  grandfather  was,  and  am  much  more  concerned 
to  know  what  his  grandson  will  be." 

BLONDIN  CROSSING  THE  NIAGARA  RIVER 

Lincoln  and  the  country  expected  McClellan  to  cross 
the  Potomac  on  the  22d  of  February.  When  he  failed  to 
do  this  complaints  kept  coming  in  to  the  President.  Finally 
he  said  to  some  gentlemen  in  answer  to  their  complaints, 
"  Gentlemen,  suppose  you  had  put  all  the  property  you  were 
worth  into  the  hands  of  Blondin,  the  wire  walker,  to  carry 
across  the  Niagara.  Would  you  shake  the  cable  or  keep 
shouting  directions  at  him?  No,  you  would  hold  your 
breath  as  well  as  your  tongue  until  he  was  safely  over.  It 
is  thus  with  the  government.  Keep  silent,  and  we'll  get 
you  safely  across." 


*  1 

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—       5 

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«    - 

PH      -5 
S3        8 


w  1 

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&  8 

3  I 

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I  I 


n 

STORIES  TOLD  BY  LINCOLN 

5-8  PURPOSE  OF  LINCOLN'S  STORIES 

While  at  Washington,  Lincoln  was  once  asked  to  tell 
a  story.  He  replied  by  saying:  "I  believe  I  have  the  popu- 
lar reputation  of  being  a  story-teller;  but  it  is  not  the  story 
itself,  but  its  purpose  or  effect,  that  interests  me.  I  often 
avoid  a  long,  useless  discussion  by  others  or  laborious  ex- 
planation on  my  own  part  by  a  short  story  that  illustrates 
my  point  of  view.  So,  too,  the  sharpness  of  a  refusal  or 
the  edge  of  a  rebuke  may  be  blunted  by  an  appropriate 
story." 

—  By  permission  of  The  Century  Company. 

THE  IRISH  BULL  ABOUT  THE  NEW  BOOTS 

How  could  we  make  an  entirely  new  improvement 
such  as  a  road  or  canal  by  means  of  the  tonnage  duties  de- 
rived from  it?  The  idea  that  we  could,  involves  the  same 
absurdity  as  the  Irish  bull  about  the  new  boots.  "I  shall 
never  git  'em  on,"  says  Pat,  "till  I  wear  'em  a  day  or  two, 
and  stretch  'em  a  little." 

25 


26 

7-8  THE  RAT  STORY 

While  en  route  from  Dixon  to  Freeport,  Illinois,  Mr. 
Lincoln  took  off  his  hat  and  produced  a  crumpled  and  not 
too  immaculate  scrap  of  paper  from  the  multitude  therein. 

"Now,  Joe,"  said  he  to  Mr.  Medill,  of  the  Press  and 
Tribune,  "here  are  the  four  questions  I  intend  to  ask  Judge 
Douglas.  I  am  ready  for  you.  Fire  away." 

After  reading  them  over,  Mr.  Medill  said,  "We  don't 
care  about  the  others,  but  if  you  ask  the  second  you  will 
never  see  the  United  States  Senate."  The  question  read, 
"Can  the  people  of  the  United  States  Territory,  in  any 
lawful  way,  against  the  wish  of  any  citizen  of  the  United 
States,  exclude  slavery  from  its  limits  prior  to  the  forma- 
tion of  a  State  Constitution?"  "Douglas  will  answer 
'Yes,'  and  that's  all  the  Democrats  want  to  put  him  in  the 
Senate,"  said  Mr.  Medill.  "Why  should  we  work  for 
you?" 

"Joe,"  said  Lincoln,  "a  rat  in  the  larder  is  easier  to 
catch  than  a  rat  that  has  the  run  of  the  cellar.  You  know 
where  to  set  your  trap  in  a  larder.  I'll  tell  you  why  I  am 
in  this  campaign  —  to  catch  Douglas  now  and  keep  him 
out  of  the  White  House  in  1860." 

— By  permission.  From  "  The  Crisis,"  by  Winston 
Churchill. 

7-8  BOAST   OF   AN  IRISH   SOLDIER 

A  witty  Irish  soldier  was  always  boasting  of  his  brav- 
ery when  no  danger  was  near,  but  always  retreated  at  the 
first  charge  of  an  engagement.  When  asked  by  his  cap- 


27 

tain  why  he  did  so  he  replied:  "I  have  as  brave  a  heart 
as  Julius  Caesar  ever  had;  but,  somehow  or  other,  when- 
ever danger  approaches,  my  cowardly  legs  will  run  away 
with  it."  So  with  some  men.  They  take  public  money 
for  the  best  imaginable  purposes;  but  before  they  can 
possibly  produce  it  again,  their  rascally  "vulnerable  heels" 
will  run  away  with  them. 

f 

5-8      THE  STEAMBOAT  WITH  SIX-INCH  BOILER  AND  NINE- 
INCH  WHISTLE 

We  have  all  met  with  people  who  in  ordinary  affairs 
seem  rational  enough,  but  as  soon  as  they  arise  to  address 
an  assembly  all  sense  seems  to  desert  them.  Mr.  Lincoln 
was  once  opposed  in  a  law  suit  by  a  lawyer  who  belonged 
in  this  class.  It  reminded  him  of  a  story.  He  once  saw 
a  steam-boat  which  had  an  engine  with  a  six-inch  boiler 
and  a  nine-inch  whistle.  The  steamboat  moved  along  all 
right  until  it  blew  its  whistle,  then  the  locomotion  ceased 
altogether. 

-  By  permission  of  O.  H.  Oldroyd.  ' 

5-8       ^Esop's  FABLE  ABOUT  FOUR  WHITE  MEN  SCRUBBING 

A  NEGRO 

One  day,  discussing  with  Dr.  Sunderland  the  effect  which 
the  war  would  have  upon  the  negro,  Lincoln  suddenly 
laughed  and  said,  "This  makes  me  think  of  a  story  in 
'^sop's  Fables.'  Four  white  men  were  scrubbing  a  negro 
jn  a  potash  kettle  of  cold  water,  hoping  to  make  him  white, 


28 

but  just  as  they  thought  they  were  succeeding  he  took  cold 
and  died.  Now  I'm  afraid  that  by  the  time  we  get  through 
this  war  the  Negro  will  catch  cold  and  die." 


3-8  How  SOME  PEOPLE  SUCCEED  IN  CORKING  UP 

OTHERS 

A  Union  general  had  allowed  himself  and  his  army  to  be 
drawn  into  a  dangerous  position.  When  speaking  of  this, 
Lincoln  said:  "General-  -reminds  me  of  a  man  out 
West  who  was  engaged  in  what  they  call  heading  a  barrel. 
He  worked  diligently  for  a  time  driving  down  the  hoops; 
but  when  the  job  seemed  completed,  the  head  would  fall  in, 
and  he  would  have  to  do  the  work  all  over  again.  Sud- 
denly a  bright  idea  struck  him.  He  put  his  boy  into  the 
barrel  to  hold  up  the  head  while  he  pounded  down  the  hoops. 
This  worked  like  a  charm.  The  job  was  completed  be- 
fore he  once  thought  how  he  was  to  get  the  little  fellow  out 
again.  Now,"  said  Mr.  Lincoln,  "some  people  can  suc- 
ceed better  in  getting  themselves  and  others  corked  up 
than  in  getting  uncorked." 


7-8  THE  COON  STORY 

At  the  close  of  the  War,  Lincoln  was  beset  by  men  who 
wished  to  advise  him  how  to  proceed  toward  the  conquered 
Confederacy.  One  gentleman  boldly  asked  aloud,  what 
everyone  else  was  asking  privately,  "Mr.  President,  what 
will  you  do  with  Jeff  Davis  when  he  is  caught?" 


29 

Mr.  Lincoln  straightened  up,  and  all  knew  he  was 
about  to  tell  a  story.  "Gentlemen,"  he  began,  "that  re- 
minds me  of  a  little  boy  I  once  found  crying  on  a  street 
corner  of  a  little  Illinios  town.  I  asked  him  the  cause  of 
his  trouble.  He  said  that  he  had  been  struggling  with  the 
coon  which  was  tugging  at  the  end  of  a  string.  Between 
sobs  he  continued,  'That  coon,  sir,  has  given  me  all  kinds 
of  trouble,  and  now  has  nearly  gnawed  the  string  in  two. 
I  just  wish  he  would,  so  I  could  say  at  home  that  he  had 
got  away.": 

Everyone  laughed.  All  understood  what  the  President 
would  like  to  do  with  Jeff  Davis  —  when  Jeff  Davis  was 
caught. 


Ill 

MAXIMS  AND  SAYINGS  OF  LINCOLN 

1-4          "All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother." 

3-8  "It  is  better  only  sometimes  to  be  right  than  at  all 
times  to  be  wrong." 

1-8          "A  living  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion." 
1-8          "Broken  eggs  cannot  be  mended." 

5-6  "1  do  not  wish  to  die  until  the  world  is  better  for  my 
having  lived."  (Said  to  his  closest  friend,  Joshua  Speed.) 

3-6  '  "When  I  am  dead,  I  wish  my  friends  to  remember  that 
I  always  plucked  a  thistle  and  planted  a  rose  when  in  my 
power." 

7-8  "My  early  history  is  perfectly  characterized  by  a  single 
line  of  Gray's  'Elegy': 

"'The  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor."' 

(Reply  to  a  gentleman  who  asked  for  a  sketch  of  his 
life,  1861.) 

3° 


31 

6-8  "Those  who  deny  freedom  to  others  deserve  it  not  for 
themselves,  and  under  a  just  God  cannot  long  retain  it." 

4-8  "If  we  do  right,  God  will  be  with  us,  and  if  God  is  with 
us  we  cannot  fail." 

5-8  "He  who  does  something  at  the  head  of  one  regiment, 
will  eclipse  him  who  does  nothing  at  the  head  of  a  hun- 
dred." 

5-8  "Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,  and  in  that 
faith  let  us  to  the  end  dare  to  do  our  duty  as  we  understand 
it."  —  Cooper  Institute  Speech. 

5-8          Maxim  when  assigning  offices:  "  Justice  to  all." 

"I  have  not  suffered  by  the  South,  I  have  suffered  with 
the  South.  Their  pain  has  been  my  pain;  their  loss  has 
been  my  loss.  What  they  have  gained,  I  have  gained." 


IV 


MATERIAL  SUITABLE    FOR    READINGS   TAKEN 
FROM  LINCOLN'S  SPEECHES  AND  LETTERS 

7-8  LINCOLN'S  SKETCH  OF  His  OWN  LIFE 

Written  for  the  Campaign  of  1860.  Excellent  as  a 
reading.  Closes  with  the  following  personal  description: 

If  any  personal  description  of  me  is  thought  desirable, 
it  may  be  said  I  am,  in  height,  six  feet  four  inches,  nearly; 
lean  in  flesh,  weighing  on  an  average  one  hundred  eighty 
pounds;  dark  complexion,  with  coarse  black  hair,  and  gray 
eyes.  No  other  marks  or  brands  recollected. 

Yours  truly, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

—  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln. — Nicolay  and  Hay, 
I,  596. 

5-8          LINCOLN'S  INTERPRETATION  OF  "ALL  MEN  ARE 

CREATED  EQUAL" 

"I  say  no  man  is  good  enough  to  govern  another  man, 
without  that  other's  consent.  I  say  this  is  the  leading 
principle  —  the  sheet  anchor  of  American  republicanism. 
Our  Declaration  of  Independence  says:  'We  hold  these 

32 


truths  to  be  self-evident ;  that  all  men  are  created  equal :  that 
they  are  endowed  by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalien- 
able rights;  that  among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  the  pur- 
suit of  happiness.' 

"I  think  the  authors  of  that  notable  instrument  intended 
to  include  all  men,  but  they  did  not  intend  to  declare  all 
men  equal  in  all  respects.  They  did  not  mean  to  say  all 
were  equal  in  color,  size,  intellect,  moral  developments, 
or  social  capacity.  They  defined  with  tolerable  distinct- 
ness, in  what  respects  they  did  consider  all  men  created 
equal  —  equal  with  'certain  inalienable  rights,  among 
which  are  life,  liberty,  and  the  pursuit  of  happiness."' 


7-8      ADDRESS   ON   COLONIZATION   TO   A   DEPUTATION   OF 

COLORED  MEN 

Lincoln's  opinions  regarding  the  future  of  the  negroes 
and  the  advantages  of  colonization  in  Central  America 
are  forcibly  expressed. — Extracts  —  Complete  Works  of  Abra- 
ham Lincoln. —  Nicolay  and  Hay,  II,  222. 


7-8  LETTER  TO  MRS.  BIXBY  OF  BOSTON,  MASS. 

NOVEMBER  21,  1864 

Dear  Madam:  I  have  been  shown  in  the  files  of  the 
War  Department  a  statement  of  the  Adjutant- General  of 
Massachusetts,  that  you  are  the  mother  of  five  sons  who 
have  died  gloriously  on  the  field  of  battle.  I  feel  how  weak 
and  fruitless  must  be  any  words  of  mine  which  should  at- 


34 

tempt  to  beguile  you  from  the  grief  of  a  loss  so  overwhelm- 
ing. But  I  cannot  refrain  from  tendering  to  you  the  con- 
solation that  may  be  found  in  the  thanks  of  the  Republic 
they  died  to  save.  I  pray  that  our  heavenly  Father  may 
assuage  the  anguish  of  your  bereavement,  and  leave  you 
only  the  cherished  memory  of  the  loved  and  lost,  and  the 
solemn  pride  that  must  be  yours  to  have  laid  so  costly  a 
sacrifice  upon  the  altar  of  freedom. 

Yours  very  sincerely  and  respectfully, 

ABRAHAM  LINCOLN. 

7-8  LETTER  TO  GENERAL  JOSEPH   HOOKER 

The  spirit  is  shown  by  the  closing  words:  "Beware 
of  rashness,  but  with  energy  and  sleepless  vigilance  go 
forward  and  give  us  victories." 

—  Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln.  —  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  II,  306. 

7-8  FIRST  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

(Extracts,  especially  from  the  latter  part,  including  his  closing 
words,  to  be  selected.) 

"We  are  not  enemies,  but  friends.  We  must  not  be 
enemies.  Though  passion  may  have  strained,  it  must  not 
break  our  bonds  of  affection.  The  mystic  cords  of  memory, 
stretching  from  every  battlefield  and  patriot  grave  to  every 
living  heart  and  hearthstone  all  over  this  broad  land,  will 
yet  swell  the  chorus  of  the  Union  when  again  touched,  as 
surely  they  will  be,  by  the  better  angels  of  our  nature." 


35 

5-8  THE  PRESIDENTIAL  OATH  TAKEN  BY  LINCOLN 

A  cheer  greeted  Lincoln  at  the  close  of  this  address. 
Chief- Justice  Taney  arose,  the  clerk  opened  his  Bible,  and 
Mr.  Lincoln,  laying  his  hand  upon  it,  with  deliberation 
pronounced  the  oath: 

"I,  Abraham  Lincoln,  do  solemnly  swear  that  I  will 
faithfully  execute  the  office  of  President  of  the  United  States, 
and  will,  to  the  best  of  my  ability,  preserve,  protect,  and 
defend  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

So  long  as  liberty  remains:  so  long  as  Christianity 
and  civilization  are  the  legacy  of  the  race,  will  history  re- 
cord how  faithfully  that  sacred  vow  was  fulfilled. 

—  Dr.  Wm.  Jayne. 


How    SHALL   WE   FORTIFY   AGAINST   DISREGARDING 
THE  LAWS? 

Suitable  for  a  reading.  An  extract  is:  "Let  reverence 
for  the  laws  be  breathed  by  every  American  mother  to  the 
lisping  babe  that  prattles  on  her  lap;  let  it  be  taught  in 
schools,  in  seminaries,  and  in  colleges;  let  it  be  written 
in  primers,  spelling  books,  and  in  almanacs ;  let  it  be  preached 
from  the  pulpit,  proclaimed  in  legislative  halls,  and  en- 
forced in  Courts  of  Justices;  in  short,  let  it  become  the 
political  religion  of  the  nation." 

-Complete  Works  of  Abraham   Lincoln  —  Nicolay  and 
Hay,  I,  12. 


36 

7-8  GETTYSBURG  ADDRESS 

NOVEMBER,  19,  1863 

This  address  was  originally  composed  by  Lincoln  on 
a  piece  of  brown  wrapping  paper,  partly  while  aboard  the 
train  and  partly  at  Gettysburg.  Lincoln  feared  it  would 
be  a  failure. 

"Fourscore  and  seven  years  ago  our  fathers  brought 
forth  on  this  continent  a  new  nation,  conceived  in  liberty, 
and  dedicated  to  the  proposition  that  all  men  are  created 
equal. 

"Now  we  are  engaged  in  a  great  Civil  War,  testing 
whether  that  nation,  or  any  nation  so  conceived  and  so 
dedicated,  can  long  endure.  We  are  met  on  a  great  battle- 
field of  that  war.  We  have  come  to  dedicate  a  portion  of 
that  field  as  a  final  resting-place  for  those  who  here  gave 
their  lives  that  that  nation  might  live.  It  is  altogether 
fitting  and  proper  that  we  should  do  this. 

"But,  in  a  larger  sense,  we  cannot  dedicate  —  we 
cannot  consecrate  —  we  cannot  hallow  —  this  ground.  The 
brave  men,  living  and  dead,  who  struggled  here,  have  con- 
secrated it  far  above  our  poor  power  to  add  or  detract. 
The  world  will  little  note  nor  long  remember  what  we  say 
here,  but  it  can  never  forget  what  they  did  here.  It  is  for 
us,  the  living,  rather,  to  be  dedicated  here  to  the  unfinished 
work  which  they  who  fought  here  have  thus  far  so  nobly 
advanced.  It  is  rather  for  us  to  be  here  dedicated  to  the 
great  task  remaining  before  us  —  that  from  these  honored 
dead  we  take  increased  devotion  to  that  cause  for  which  they 
gave  the  last  full  measure  of  devotion;  that  we  here  highly 


37 

resolve  that  these  dead  shall  not  have  died  in  vain;  that 
this  nation,  under  God,  shall  have  a  new  birth  of  freedom; 
and  that  government  of  the  people,  by  the  people,  for  the 
people,  shall  not  perish  from  the  earth." 

The  eloquent  Hon.  Edward  Everett  was  orator  of  the 
day.  At  the  conclusion  of  his  address  he  was  heartily  con- 
gratulated by  Mr.  Lincoln,  to  whom  he  replied:  "Ah, 
Mr.  President,  gladly  would  I  exchange  my  entire  hundred 
pages  to  have  been  the  author  of  your  twenty  lines." 

See  "Lincoln  at  Gettysburg." 

-  Clark  E.  Can.      ( McClurg. ) 
"The  Perfect  Tribute." 

—  M.  R.  Andrews.     (Scribner's,  Vol.  XL.) 


7-8  SECOND  INAUGURAL  ADDRESS 

The  entire  selection  may  be  used,  especially  the  closing 
words : 

"With  malice  toward  none;  with  charity  for  all;  with 
firmness  in  the  right,  as  God  gives  us  to  see  the  right,  let 
us  strive  on  to  finish  the  work  we  are  in;  to  bind  up  the 
nation's  wounds;  to  care  for  him  who  shall  have  borne  the 
battle,  and  for  his  widow,  and  his  orphan  —  to  do  all  which 
may  achieve  and  cherish  a  just  and  lasting  peace  among 
ourselves,  and  with  all  nations." 


V 

POEMS 

A    POEM   BY   LINCOLN  —  His    FAVORITES  —  POEMS 
ON  LINCOLN 

Lincoln  wrote  the  following  poem  in  1844,  when  he 
visited  the  neighborhood  in  Indiana  where  he  was  raised 
and  his  mother  was  buried: 

My  childhood's  home  I  see  again, 

And  sadden  with  the  view; 
And  still,  as  memory  crowds  my  brain, 

There's  pleasure  in  it  too. 

Nearly  twenty  years  have  passed  away 

Since  here  I  bid  farewell 
To  woods  and  fields  and  scenes  of  play, 

And  playmates  loved  so  well. 

Where  many  were,  but  few  remain 

Of  old  familiar  things; 
But  seeing  them  to  mind  again 

The  lost  and  absent  brings. 

The  friends  I  left  that  parting  day, 

How  changed,  as  time  has  sped! 
Young  childhood  grown  strong  manhood  gray, 

And  half  of  all  are  dead. 

38 


39 

I  hear  the  loved  survivors  tell 

How  naught  from  death  could  save, 
Till  every  sound  appears  a  knell, 

And  every  spot  a  grave 

I  range  the  fields  with  pensive  tread, 

And  pace  the  hollow  rooms, 
And  feel  (companion  of  the  dead) 

I'm  living  in  the  tombs. 

FAVORITE  POEMS  OF  LINCOLN 

"  A  Man's  a  Man  for  a'  That."  —  Burns. 
"Last  Leaf."  —  Holmes. 

OH!  WHY  SHOULD  THE  SPIRIT  OF  MORTAL  BE 
PROUD  ? 

Lincoln   recited   this   at   every  opportunity  for  some 
thirty  years. 

Oh!  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud? 
Like  a  swift  flitting  meteor,  a  fast  flying  cloud, 
The  flash  of  the  lightning,  a  break  of  the  wave, 
He  passes  from  life  to  his  rest  in  the  grave. 

The  leaves  of  the  oak  and  the  willow  shall  fade, 
Be  scattered  around  and  together  be  laid; 
And  the  young  and  the  old  and  the  low  and  the  high 
Shall  molder  to  dust  and  together  shall  lie. 

The  infant  a  mother  attended  and  loved, 
The  mother  that  infant's  affection  who  proved, 
The  husband  that  mother  and  infant  who  blest, 
Each,  all  are  away  to  their  dwellings  of  rest. 


40 

The  maid  on  whose  cheek,  on  whose  brow,  in  whose  eye, 
Shone  beauty  and  pleasure,  her  triumphs  are  by; 
And  the  mem'ry  of  those  who  loved  her  and  praised 
Are  alike  from  the  minds  of  the  living  erased. 

The  hand  of  the  king  that  the  scepter  hath  borne, 
The  brow  of  the  priest  that  the  miter  hath  worn, 
The  eye  of  the  sage  and  the  heart  of  the  brave 
Are  hidden  and  lost  in  the  depths  of  the  grave. 

The  peasant  whose  lot  was  to  sow  and  to  reap, 
The  herdsman  who  climbed  with  his  goats  up  the  steep, 
The  beggar  who  wandered  in  search  of  his  bread, 
Have  faded  away  like  the  grass  that  we  tread. 

The  saint  who  enjoyed  the  communion  of  heaven, 
The  sinner  who  dared  to  remain  unforgiven, 
The  wise  and  the  foolish,  the  guilty  and  just, 
Have  quietly  mingled  their  bones  in  the  dust. 

So  the  multitude  goes  like  the  flower  or  the  weed 
That  withers  away  to  let  others  succeed, 
So  the  multitude  comes,  even  those  we  behold, 
To  repeat  every  tale  that  has  often  been  told. 

For  we  are  the  same  that  our  fathers  have  been; 
We  see  the  same  sights  our  fathers  have  seen; 
We  drink  the  same  streams,  and  view  the  same  sun, 
And  run  the  same  course  our  fathers  have  run. 

The  thoughts  we  are  thinking  our  fathers  would  think, 
From  the  death  we  are  shrinking  our  fathers  would  shrink; 
To  the  life  we  are  clinging  they  also  would  cling, 
But  it  speeds  from  us  all  like  a  bird  on  the  wing. 


41 

They  loved,  but  the  story  we  cannot  unfold 
They  scorned,  but  the  heart  of  the  haughty  is  cold; 
They  grieved,  but  no  wail  from  their  slumber  will  come; 
They  joyed,  but  the  tongue  of  their  gladness  is  dumb. 

They  died,  ay,  they  died.    We  things  that  are  now, 
That  walk  on  the  turf  that  lies  over  their  brow, 
And  make  in  their  dwellings  a  transient  abode, 
Meet  the  things  that  they  met  on  their  pilgrimage  road. 

Yea,  hope  and  despondency,  pleasure  and  pain, 
Are  mingled  together  in  sunshine  and  rain; 
And  the  smile  and  the  tear,  the  song  and  the  dirge, 
Still  follow  each  other  like  surge  upon  surge. 

'Tis  the  wink  of  an  eye,  'tis  the  draught  of  a  breath, 
From  the  blossom  of  health  to  the  paleness  of  death, 
From  the  gilded  salon  to  the  bier  and  the  shroud  — 
Oh,  why  should  the  spirit  of  mortal  be  proud  ? 

—  William  Knox 

POEMS  ON  LINCOLN 

"  Ode  for  the  Burial  of  Abraham  Lincoln."   -  Bryant. 
"O  Captain!  My  Captain !"  —  Walt  Whitman. 

Lowell,  in  his  Commemoration  Ode  has  characterized 
Lincoln  with  lines  which  may  well  be  said  to  "touch  the 
high- water  mark  of  American  poetry": 

The  kindly-earnest,  brave,  foreseeing  man, 
Sagacious,  patient,  dreading  praise,  not  blame. 
New  birth  of  our  new  soil,  the  first  American. 

Recantation  made  by  the  London  Punch  —  a  paper 
that  had  used  Lincoln  as  a  subject  of  caricature  and  ridicule : 


Yes,  he  had  lived  to  shame  me  from  my  sneer, 
To  lame  my  pencil,  and  confute  my  pen  — 

To  make  me  own  this  hind  —  of  princes  peer, 
This  railsplitter  —  a  true-born  king  of  men. 


LINCOLN:  A  RETROSPECT 

Now  that  the  winds  of  Peace  have  blown  away 
The  battle  smoke  which  long  obscured  the  day, 
Now  that  all  wrath  is  as  a  tale  of  old 
And  human  flesh  is  minted  into  gold 
No  longer,  and  the  straggling  thunders  cease 
And  all  the  land  is  wrapt  in  busy  peace  — 
There  towers  in  our  sight  this  man  of  worth 
Above  the  selfish  kings  that  ruled  the  earth. 
He  did  not  yearn  for  hopeless  things,  nor  sigh 
For  purple  kingdoms  verging  on  the  sky, 
Nor  long  for  irised  landscapes  shimmering  fair 
In  a  blown  bubble  of  inconstant  air, 
But  with  great  vision  of  the  years  to  be 
He  shaped  a  mighty  nation's  destiny 
And  gave  all  man  can  give  —  his  life  he  gave  — 
To  weld  the  broken  state  and  free  the  slave. 

Gave  resolution  to  the  ruler's  pen; 

The  books  he  conned  beside  the  open  fire 

Made  strong  the  brain  which  battles  could  not  tire; 

The  law  courts  with  forensic  shift  and  strife 

The  ax  the  gaunt  youth  swung  in  dale  and  glen 

Prepared  him  for  that  tragedy,  his  life. 

He  never  held  his  ways  from  men  apart, 

Yet  kept  a  sanctuary  in  his  heart 

Whence  flowed  a  stream  of  love  and  hope,  to  bless, 


43 

Pure  as  a  clear  spring  in  a  wilderness. 

He  trusted  God  —  bearing  the  weight  of  war  — 

As  olden  captains  trusted  in  a  star. 

And  yet  he  was  not  all  the  stolid  oak: 

Full  well  could  he  the  foeman's  smile  provoke 

With  homely  proverb  or  a  timely  joke. 

—  Harry  H.  Kemp 

Calm  and  serene  unto  the  end  he  past 
And  bravely  met  his  martyrdom  at  last     .     .     . 
They  crossed  his  thin,  worn  hands  upon  his  breast. 
God  gave  the  country  peace  and  Lincoln  rest! 

—  The  Independent,  February  29,  1908. 


LINCOLN 

Fate  struck  the  hour! 

A  crisis  hour  of  time. 
The  tocsin  of  a  people  clanging  forth 
Thro'  the  wild  South  and  thro'  the  startled  North 
Called  for  a  leader,  master  of  his  kind, 
Fearless  and  firm,  and  with  clear  foreseeing  mind; 
Who  should  not  flinch  from  calumny  or  scorn; 

Wielding  a  giant  power 

Humbly,  with  faith  sublime. 

God  knew  the  man  His  sovereign  grace  had  sealed; 
God  touched  the  man  and  Lincoln  stood  revealed! 

—  /.  L.  H.    By  permission  of  The  Outlook. 


VI 
TRIBUTES  TO  LINCOLN  BY  OUR  GREAT  MEN 

5-8  HENRY  WARD  BEECHER'S  EULOGY 

Four  years  ago,  O  Illinois,  we  took  from  your  midst 
an  untried  man  from  among  the  people.  Behold!  we 
return  to  you  a  mighty  conqueror.  Not  ours  any  more, 
but  the  nation's.  Not  ours,  but  the  world's.  Give  him 
place,  O  ye  prairies.  —  Extract. 

5-8          Lincoln  was  the  grandest  figure  of  the  fiercest  Civil 
War.    He  is  the  gentlest  memory  of  our  world. 

—  Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 

6-8      THE  CAREER  AND  CHARACTER  OF  ABRAHAM  LINCOLN 

We  cannot  follow  this  contest.  You  know  its  gigantic 
proportions ;  that  it  lasted  four  years  instead  of  three  months ; 
that  in  its  progress  instead  of  75,000  men,  more  than  2,000,- 
ooo  were  enrolled  on  the  side  of  the  Government  alone; 
that  the  aggregate  cost  and  loss  to  the  nation  approximated 
to  $5,000,000,000,  and  that  no  less  than  300,000  brave 
and  precious  lives  were  sacrificed  on  each  side.  History 
has  recorded  how  Lincoln  bore  himself  during  those  four 
frightful  years;  that  he  was  the  real  President,  the  re- 


45 

sponsible  and  actual  head  of  the  Government  through  it 
all;  that  he  listened  to  all  advice,  heard  all  parties,  and 
then,  realizing  his  responsibility  to  God  and  the  Nation, 
decided  every  great  executive  question  for  himself. 

—  Joseph  H.  Choate.     (  Extract. ) 


6-8  Almost  from  the  moment  the  bullet  of  the  assassin 
pierced  his  brain,  detraction  ceased  and  appreciation  be- 
gan. His  fame  has  kept  even  pace  with  the  fortunes  of 
his  united  country.  His  great  character  is  our  noblest 
heritage.  The  more  we  study  it  the  firmer  must  be  our 
faith  in  the  living  power  of  human  integrity. 

—  Alfred  Bayliss. 

7-8  Certain  it  is  that  we  have  never  had  a  man  in  public 
life  whose  sense  of  duty  was  stronger,  whose  bearing  toward 
those  with  whom  he  came  in  contact,  whether  his  friends 
or  political  opponents,  was  characterized  by  a  greater  sense 
of  fairness  than  Abraham  Lincoln.  We  have  never  had  a 
man  in  public  life  who  took  upon  himself  uncomplainingly 
the  woes  of  the  nation  and  suffered  in  soul  from  the  weight 
of  them  as  he  did.  We  have  never  had  a  man  in  our  history 
who  had  such  a  mixture  of  far-sightedness,  of  understand- 
ing of  the  people,  of  common  sense,  of  high  sense  of  duty, 
of  power  of  inexorable  logic  and  of  confidence  in  the  good- 
ness of  God,  in  working  out  a  righteous  result  as  this  great 
product  of  the  soil  of  Kentucky  and  Illinois. 

—  William  Howard  Tajt. 


46 

7-8  WASHINGTON  AND  LINCOLN 

Washington,  though  in  some  ways  an  even  greater  man 
than  Lincoln,  did  not  have  Lincoln's  wonderful  gift  of 
expression  —  that  gift  which  makes  certain  speeches  of  the 
rail-splitter  from  Illinois  read  like  the  inspired  utterances 
of  the  great  Hebrew  seers  and  prophets.  But  he  had  all  of 
Lincoln's  sound  common  sense,  far-sightedness,  and  de- 
votion to  a  lofty  ideal.  Like  Lincoln  he  sought  after  the 
noblest  objects,  and  like  Lincoln  he  sought  after  them  by 
thoroughly  practical  methods.  These  two  greatest  Ameri- 
cans can  fairly  be  called  the  best  among  the  great  men  of 
the  world,  and  the  greatest  among  the  good  men  of  the 
world.  Each  showed  in  actual  practice  his  capacity  to 
secure  under  our  system,  the  priceless  union  of  individual 
liberty  with  governmental  strength.  Each  was  free  from 
the  vices  of  the  demagogue. 

—  Theodore  Roosevelt. 


A   R   I   I  L  L  E  R  Y     GROUP 

The  Artillery  group  represents  a  piece  of  artillery  in  battle.  The  enemy 
has  succeeded  in  directing  a  shot  so  well  as  to  dismount  the  gun.  The  officer 
in  command  mounts  his  disabled  piece  and  with  drawn  saber  fronts  the  enemy. 
The  youthful  soldier,  with  uplifted  hands,  is  horrified  at  the  havoc  around 
him.  The  wounded  and  prostrate  soldier  wears  a  look  of  intense  agony. 


CAVALRY   GROUP 

The  Cavalry  group,  consisting  of  two  human  figures  and  a  horse,  repre- 
sents a  battle  scene.  The  horse,  from  whose  back  the  rider  has  just  been 
thrown,  is  frantically  rearing.  The  wounded  and  dying  taimpeter,  supported 
by  a  comrade,  is  bravely  facing  death. 


INFANTRY  GROUP 

The  Infantry  group  represents  an  officer,  a  private  soldier,  and  a  drummer, 
with  arms-  and  accoutrements,  marching  in  "expectation  of  battle.  The 
officer  in  command  raises  the  flag  with  one  hand,  and  pointing  to  the  enemy 
with  the  other,  orders  a  charge.  The  private  with  the  musket,  as  the  repre- 
sentative of  the  whole  line,  is  in  the  act  of  executing  the  charge.  The  drum- 
mer boy  has  become  excited,  lost  his  cap,  thrown  away  his  haversack  and 
drawn  a  revolver  to  take  part  in  the  conflict. 


NAVAL  GROUP 

The  Naval  group  represents  a  scene  on  the  deck  of  a  gunboat.  The 
mortar  is  poised  ready  for  action;  the  gunner  has  rolled  up  a  shell  ready  for 
firing;  the  boy,  or  powder  monkey,  climbs  to  the  highest  point  and  is  peering 
into  the  distance;  the  officer  in  command  is  about  to  examine  the  situation 
through  the  telescope.  Each  of  these  groups  cost  813,700. 


VII 
TOAST  TO  THE  FLAG 

Your  Flag,  and  my  Flag, 

And  how  it  flies  to-day 
In  your  land  and  my  land 

And  half  a  world  away. 
Rose  red  and  blood  red 

Its  stripes  forever  gleam, 
Soul  white  and  snow  white, 

The  good  forefather's  dream. 
Sky  blue  and  true  blue, 

With  stars  to  gleam  aright, 
A  gloried  guidon  in  the  day, 

A  shelter  through  the  night. 

Your  Flag,  and  my  Flag! 

And  O,  how  much  it  holds  — 
Your  land  and  my  land 

Secure  within  its  folds ; 
Your  heart  and  my  heart 

Beat  quicker  at  the  sight, 
Sun  kissed  and  wind  tossed, 

The  red  and  blue  and  white. 
The  one  Flag,  the  great  Flag, 

The  Flag  for  me  and  you  — 
Glorified  all  else  beside, 

The  Red  and  White  and  Blue. 

—  W.  B.  Nesbit. 
47 


48 

PLEDGE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG 
Issued  by  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic 

At  a  signal  every  person  rises  in  his  place.  While  the 
flag  is  being  brought  forward  the  salute  is  given  as  follows: 

"7  pledge  allegiance  to  my  flag  and  to  the  Republic  jor 
which  it  stands:  One  Nation  indivisible,  with  Liberty  and 
Justice  I  or  all." 

At  the  words  "to  my  flag,"  extend  the  right  hand, 
palm  upward,  toward  the  flag  until  the  end  of  the  pledge 
of  affirmation.  Then  drop  the  hand  to  the  side. 

To  the  younger  children  the  following  may  be  taught: 

"I  give  my  head  and  my  heart  to  God  and  my  country. 
One  country,  one  language,  one  flag." 


VIII 
SONGS 

FAVORITES    OF   LINCOLN  —  CAMPAIGN   SONGS  —  POPULAR 
NATIONAL  WAR  SONGS 

The  song  which  Lincoln  liked  above  all  others  was 
"Twenty  Years  Ago,"  beginning  thus: 

"I've  wandered  to  the  village,  Tom:  I've  sat  beneath  the  tree 
Upon  the  schoolhouse  playground,  that  sheltered  you  and  me, 
But  none  were  left  to  greet  me,  Tom,  and  few  were  left  to  know 
Who  played  with  us  upon  the  green,  some  twenty  years  ago." 

Other   favorites   were   "Ben   Bolt,"    "The   Sword   of 
Bunker  Hill,"  and  "The  Lament  of  the  Irish  Emigrant." 

CAMPAIGN   SONGS.     1858-1860 
A  LINCOLN  CAMPAIGN  SONG,  1858 

We  hear  a  cry  increasing  still, 
Like  light  it  springs  from  hill  to  hill  — 
From  Pennsylvania's  State  it  leaps, 
And  o'er  the  Buckeye  valley  sweeps. 

Get  out  of  the  way,  Stephen  Douglas! 
Get  out  of  the  way,  Stephen  Dougas! 
Get  out  of  the  way,  Stephen  Douglas! 
Lincoln  is  the  man  we  want  to  serve  us! 

49 


5° 

The  Hoosier  State  first  caught  the  cry, 
The  Hawkeye  State  then  raised  it  high, 
The  Sucker  State  now  waits  the  day, 
When  Lincoln  leads  to  victory! 

Get  out  of  the  way,  etc. 

Cheer  up,  for  victory's  on  its  way, 
No  power  its  onward  march  can  stay, 
As  well  to  stop  the  thunder's  roar 
As  hope  for  Douglas  to  serve  us  more. 

Get  out  of  the  way,  etc. 

Then,  Freemen,  rally,  one  and  all, 
Respond  to  our  brave  leader's  call; 
Free  Speech,  Free  Press,  Free  Soil,  want  we, 
And  Lincoln  to  lead  for  liberty! 

Get  out  of  the  way,  etc. 

—  Illinois  State  Journal,  October  27,  1858. 


DOUGLAS'  COMPLAINT 

He  punished  me  —  in  fight  you  see, 

And  said  I  had  the  wrong  of  it; 
For  I  am  small  and  he  is  tall 

And  that's  the  short  and  long  of  it. 

He  split  a  rail,  through  my  coat  tail 
He  quickly  thrust  the  prong  of  it; 
I'm  five  feet  one,  that  lofty  son 

Is  six  feet  four  and  strong  of  it. 

—  From  the  Wide-awake  Vocalist,  a  Republican  campaign  song  book 
of  1860. 


51 
"WIDE- A  WAKE  CLUB"  SONG 

TUNE  —  "A  Wet  and  a  Flowing  Sea." 

Oh,  hear  you  not  the  wild  huzzas 
That  come  from  every  State? 

For  honest  Uncle  Abraham, 
The  people's  candidate? 

He  is  our  choice,  our  nominee 

A  self-made  man  and  true; 
We'll  show  the  Democrats  this  fall 

What  honest  Abe  can  do. 

Then  give  us  Abe,  and  Hamlin,  too, 

To  guide  our  gallant  ship, 
With  Seward,  Sumncr,  Chase,  and  Clay, 

And  then  a  merry  trip. 

I  hear  that  Doug  is  half  inclined 

To  give  us  all  leg-bail, 
Preferring  exercise  on  foot 

To  riding  on  a  rail. 

For  Abe  has  one  already  mauled 
Upon  the  White  House  plan; 

If  once  Doug  gets  astride  of  that, 
He  is  a  used  up  man. 

Then  give  us  Abe,  and  Hamlin,  too, 

To  guide  our  gallant  ship, 
With  Seward,  Sumner,  Chase,  and  Clay, 

And  then  a  merry  trip. 


LIBRARY 
UNIVERSITY  OF  am 


52 

POPULAR  NATIONAL  WAR   SONGS 

When  General  Grant  asked  for  300,000  soldiers  in  1864, 
Lincoln,  in  spite  of  many  protests,  called  for  500,000,  hence 
this  loyal  response: 

WE  ARE  COMING,  FATHER  ABRAHAM 

We  are  coming,  Father  Abraham,  six  hundred  thousand  more, 

From  Mississippi's  winding  stream  and  from  New  England's  shore;  • 

We  leave  our  plows  and  workshops,  our  wives  and  children  dear, 

With  hearts  too  full  for  utterance,  with  but  a  silent  tear; 

O  we  dare  not  look  behind  us,  but  steadfastly  before  — 

We  are  coming,  Father  Abr'am,  with  six  hundred  thousand  more! 

We  are  coming,  we  are  coming,  Our  Union  to  restore; 

We  are  coming,  Father  Abr'am,  with  six  hundred  thousand  more. 

If  you  look  acoss  the  hill-tops  that  meet  the  Northern  sky, 

Long  moving  lines  of  rising  dust  your  vision  may  descry; 

And  now  the  wind  an  instant  tears  the  cloudy  veil  aside, 

And  floats  aloft  our  spangled  flag  in  glory  and  in  pride; 

And  bayonets  in  the  sunlight  gleam  and  bands  brave  music  play  — 

We  are  coming,  Father  Abr'am,  with  six  hundred  thousand  more. 

We  are  coming,  we  are  coming,  etc. 

—  A  Volunteer.  . 

5-8      x  THE  VACANT  CHAIR 

THANKSGIVING,  1861 

We  shall  meet  but  we  shall  miss  him; 

There  will  be  one  vacant  chair; 
We  shall  linger  to  caress  him, 

While  we  breathe  our  evening  prayer. 


53 

When,  a  year  ago,  we  gathered, 
Joy  was  in  his  mild  blue  eye; 

But  a  golden  cord  is  severed, 
And  our  hopes  in  ruins  lie. 

At  our  fireside,  sad  and  lonely, 

Often  will  the  bosom  swell 
At  remembrance  of  the  story, 

How  our  noble  Willie  fell; 
How  he  strove  to  bear  our  banner 

Through  the  thickest  of  the  fight, 
And  upheld  our  country's  honor 

In  the  strength  of  manhood's  might. 


5-8  FOES  AND  FRIENDS 

Two  soldiers,  lying  as  they  fell,  upon  the  reddened  clay, 

In  daytime  foes,  at  night  in  peace,  breath'd  there  their  lives  away; 

Brave  hearts  had  stirr'd  each  manly  breast,  fate,  only,  made  them 

foes; 
And  lying,  dying,  side  by  side,  a  softened  feeling  rose. 

Chorus 

They'll  go  no  more  to  the  lov'd  homes  here,  but  together  both  will  wait 
For  the  sunny-hair'd  and  bright-eyed  ones,  beyond  the  golden  gate. 

"Among  New  Hampshire's  snowy  hills,  there  pray  for  me  to-night 
A  woman  and  a  little  girl,  with  hair  like  golden  light"; 
And  at  the  thought,  broke  forth  at  last  the  cry  of  anguish  wild, 
That  would  not  longer  be  repressed,  "O  God,  my  wife,  my  child!" 

Then  spoke  the  other  dying  man:   "Across  the  Georgia  plain, 
There  watch  and  wait  for  me  loved  ones  I'll  never  see  again! 
A  little  girl,  with  dark  bright  eyes,  each  day  is  at  the  door, 
The  father's  step,  the  father's  kiss  will  never  greet  her  more." 


54 

The  dying  lips  the  pardon  breathe,  the  dying  hands  entwine; 
The  last  ray  dies,  and  over  all  the  stars  of  heaven  shine, 
And  now,  the  girl  with  golden  hair,  and  she  with  dark  eyes  bright, 
On  Hampshire's  hills  and  Georgia's  plain,  were  fatherless  that  night. 


WAKE  NICODEMUS 

Nicodemus,  the  slave,  was  of  African  birth, 

And  was  bought  for  a  bagful  of  gold; 
He  was  reckon'd  as  part  of  the  salt  of  the  earth, 

But  he  died  years  ago,  very  old. 
'Twas  his  last  sad  request,  so  we  laid  him  away 

In  the  trunk  of  an  old  hollow  tree, 
"Wake  me  up! "   was  his  charge,  at  the  first  break  of  day, 

Wake  me  up  for  the  great  Jubilee!" 

Chorus 
The  "Good  time  coming"  is  almost  here! 

It  was  long,  long,  long  on  the  way! 
Now  run  and  tell  Elijah  to  hurry  up  Pomp, 
And  meet  us  at  the  gumtree  down  in  the  swamp, 

To  wake  Nicodemus  to-day. 


WHEN  JOHNNY  COMES  MARCHING  HOME 

When  Johnny  comes  marching  home  again, 

Hurrah !    Hurrah ! 
We'll  give  him  a  hearty  welcome  then, 

Hurrah !     Hurrah ! 

The  men*  will  cheer,  the  boys  will  shout, 
The  ladies,  they  will  all  turn  out, 
The  old  church  bell  will  peal  with  joy, 

Hurrah !    Hurrah ! 


55 

To  welcome  home  our  darling  boy 

Hurrah!     Hurrah! 
The  village  lads  and  lassies  say 
With  roses  they  will  strew  the  way. 

Refrain 
And  we'll  all  feel  gay  when  Johnny  comes  marching  home. 

(The  words  of  the  foregoing  songs  are  used  by  permission  of  the  S.  Brainard's 
Sons  Company,  of  Chicago,  publishers  of  the  words  and  music.) 


IX 

PROGRAMS 

SUGGESTED   PROGRAMS   FROM   MATERIAL 
IN  THE  POREGOING  PAGES 

These  programs  are  merely  suggestive.  They  may  be  modified 
and  adjusted  to  suit  conditions. 

COUNTRY  SCHOOL  PROGRAMS 

Country  school  programs  may  easily  be  made  from  these  by  select- 
ing portions  from  each  appropriate  to  the  children  of  any  school. 

GRADES  I  AND  II 
Time  —  About  Fifty  Minutes 

SONG  —  "America."     (First  stanza.) 

TALK  BY  THE  TEACHER  —  Lincoln's  Life.     (About  five  minutes.)* 

SONG  — "Tenting  on  the  Old  Camp  Ground." 

STORIES  (to  be  memorized  in  advance  and  told  by  individual  children)  — 

1  A  "Copy"  Written  by  Lincoln. 

2  Recollections  of  the  Kentucky  Farm. 

3  "Abe's  Log"  at  Sangamon  Town. 

4  Lincoln  Saves  a  Man  from  Freezing. 

*  See  "  Boy's  Life  of  Lincoln,"  by  Helen  Nicolay.  Found  also  in  St.  Nicholas, 
Vol.  33.  Supplement  the  talk  by  blackboard  drawings  or  pictures  of  Lincoln, 
the  log  cabin  in  which  he  was  born,  his  home  at  Springfield,  the  National  Lin- 
coln Monument,  and  the  Capitol  at  Washington, 

56 


57 

5  Lincoln  and  the  Young  Birds. 

6  Rescue  of  a  Pig. 

7  Lincoln's  Habit  of  Carrying  Letters  in  His  Hat.     (May  be 

dramatized.) 

8  How  Lincoln  Kept  His  Post-office  Collections. 
POEM  —  From  Lincoln's  Paper  Scrap  Book. 

MARCH  —  Flag  Drill. 

SONG  —  "Salute  to  the  Flag."     (By  Jessie  L.  Gaynor.) 

STORIES  (to  be  told  by  the  children)  — 

9  Lincoln  Carries  a  Little  Girl's  Trunk  to  the  Station. 

10  Lincoln,   His  Two   Boys,   and  Three  Walnuts.     (May  be 

dramatized.) 

11  How  Tad  Interrupted  a  Game  of  Chess. 

12  A  Little  Girl  Induces  Lincoln  to  Wear  a  Beard. 

SAYINGS  (write  on  the  blackboard.    To  be  read  by  the  teacher  or 

recited  by  children)  — 

"All  that  I  am,  or  hope  to  be,  I  owe  to  my  angel  mother." 

"Broken  eggs  cannot  be  mended." 

"A  live  dog  is  better  than  a  dead  lion." 
SONG  — "Dixie  Land." 
SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG.    (To  be  memorized.) 


GRADES  III  AND  IV 

Time  —  A  bout  One  Hour 

SONG  — "The  Star  Spangled  Banner." 

TALK  BY  TEACHER  —  Early  Life  of  Lincoln.     (Five  minutes.)* 
CHARADES  —  Based  on  Lincoln's  Boyhood.     (To  be  acted  by  boys 
in  turn.) 

1  Carrying  water. 

2  Picking  berries. 

*See  "  Boy's  Life  of  Lincoln,"  by  Helen  Nicolay.     Found  also  in  St.  Nicholas, 
Vol.  33.     Supplement  the  talk  by  blackboard  drawings  or  pictures. 


58 

3  Splitting  rails. 

4  Poling  a  flat-boat. 

5  Dropping  pumpkin  seeds  in  the  cornfield  —  every  ether  hill 

in  every  other  row. 

6  Writing  on  a  shovel  with  a  charred  stick. 

7  Copying,  from  borrowed  books,  with  his  turkey-buzzard  pen 

and  brier-root  ink. 

TALK  BY  TEACHER  —  Lincoln's  Later  Life.     (Five  minutes.) 
POEM  —  "Douglas'   Complaint"  —  Campaign  Song  of  1860.     (Class 

memorize  and  recite.) 

SONG  —  "When  Johnny  Comes  Marching  Home." 
STORIES  (to  be  told  by  the  children) — 

1  How  Lincoln  Paid  for  Weems'  Life  of  Washington. 

2  Lincoln's  First  Dollar. 

3  How  Lincoln  Saved  a  Flat-boat. 

SAYINGS  AND  MAXIMS     (written   on    blackboard.    Read    by   teacher 
or  children) — 
"It  is  better  only  sometimes  to  be  right  than  at  all  times  to  be 

wrong." 

"When  I  am  dead  I  wish  my  friends  to  remember  that  I  always 
plucked  a  thistle  and  planted  a  rose  when  in  my  power." 
SONG  — "Tramp,  Tramp,  Tramp!" 

MARCH  (leader  to  beat  time  on  drum.     Fife  also,  if  possible.) 
TOAST  TO  THE  FLAG    (By  W.  B.  Nesbit.) 
STORIES  (to  be  told  by  the  children) — 

4  Wrestling  Match  with  Armstrong. 

5  Irish  Bull  about  the  New  Boots. 

6  How  Tad  was  Named. 

7  Some  Little  Girls,  at  the  White  House. 

8  How  Tad  Signalled  to  His  Father. 
SONG  —  "Battle  Hymn  of  the  Republic." 
SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG. 

SONG  —  "America."    (First  and  last  stanzas.) 


59 
GRADES  V  AND  VI 

Time  —  About  an  Hour  and  Fifteen  Minutes 

SONG  —  "We  are  Coming,  Father  Abraham." 

READING  BY  THE  TEACHER  —  Lincoln's  Own  Sketch  of  His  Life,  as 

found  in  "Complete  Works  of  Abraham  Lincoln,"  by  Nicolay 

and  Hay. 

POEM  —  Verses  Lincoln  Wrote  on  His  Return  to  Indiana. 
SONG  — "Just  Before  the  Battle,  Mother." 
STORIES  (to  be  memorized  and  told  by  individual  children)  — 

1  Lincoln  Saves  Three  Men  in  a  Sangamon  River  Tree. 

2  How  Lincoln  Saved  a  Flat-boat. 

3  The  Great  Wrestling  Match. 

4  Captain  Lincoln  Forgets  Proper  Word  of  Command. 
POEM  —  "A  Man's  a  Man  for  a'  That." 

SONG  —  "The  Girl  I  Left  Behind  Me." 
STORIES  (to  be  told  by  individual  children,  — 

5  Lincoln  Refuses  to  Defend  a  Guilty  Client. 

6  Lincoln  Discourages  Sharp  Practices. 

7  Latitude  and  Longitude  of  Lincoln's  Socks. 

8  Douglas  Holds  Lincoln's  Hat. 
POEMS  SUITABLE  FOR  READINGS  — 

"A  Lincoln  Campaign  Song." 

"Wide- Awake  Club"  Song. 
SONG  —  "The  Vacant  Chair." 

TALK  BY  THE  TEACHER  —  Lincoln  as  President.     (About  five  minutes.) 
STORIES  — 

9  Betsy  Ann,  the  Washerwoman. 

10  Lincoln  on  His  Ancestry. 

11  The  Steamer  with  Six-inch  Boiler  and  Nine-Inch  Whistle. 

12  ^Esop's  Fable  about  "Four  White  Men  Scrubbing  a  Negro." 
READING  BY  PUPIL  —  The  Presidential  Oath. 

SAYINGS  — 

i     "I  have  not  suffered  by  the  South,"  etc. 


6o 

2  "Those  who  deny  Freedom  to  others,"  etc. 

3  "Let  us  have  faith  that  right  makes  might,"  etc. 
POEM  —  "O  Captain,  My  Captain."     (Walt  Whitman.) 
RECITATION  BY  THREE  STUDENTS  —  "Tributes  to  Lincoln,"  by  Bayliss, 

Taft,  and  Roosevelt. 
PLEDGE  SALUTE  TO  FLAG. 
SONG  —  "America." 

GRADES  VII  AND  VIII 

Time  — About  One  Hour  and  a  Half 

SONG  —  "Song  of  a  Thousand  Years." 

TALK  BY  PRINCIPAL  OR  GRADE  TEACHER  —  How  Lincoln    Became 

President.     (Five  minutes.) 

POEM  —  "Oh!  Why  Should  the  Spirit  of  Mortal  be  Proud?" 
SONG  — "Nelly  Gray." 
STORIES  —  About  Lincoln  (to  be  memorized  and  told  by  pupils)  — 

1  Lincoln's  Honesty  in  Regard  to  Fees. 

2  Lincoln's  Suit  Against  the  Illinois  Central  Railroad. 

3  Homes  of  Lincoln  and  Louis  the  Fourteenth. 

4  How  Oglesby,  John  Hanks,  and  Two  Fence  Rails  Killed 

Seward's  Boom. 

5  A  Pass  to  Richmond. 

6  Lincoln  and  the  Russian  Ambassador. 

READING  — Lincoln's  Interpretation  of  "All  Men  are  Created  Equal." 

READING  —  Lincoln's  Letter  to  Mrs.  Bixby. 

MAXIM  —  "He  who  does  something  at  the  head  of  one  regiment,  will 

eclipse  him  who  does  nothing  at  the  head  of  a  hundred." 
TALK  BY  PRINCIPAL  OR  GRADE  TEACHER  —  What  made  Lincoln  Great. 
READING  —  Lincoln's  Letter  to  General  Hooker. 
SONG  —  "Wake  Nicodemus." 

READING  —  With   Explanatory  Remarks.    The   Gettysburg  Address. 
STORIES  —  By  Lincoln  (to  be  memorized  and  told  by  the  pupils)  — 

7  Purpose  of  Lincoln's  Stories. 


6r 

8  The  Rat  Story. 

9  The  Boast  of  the  Irish  Soldier. 

10  The  Irish  Bull  about  the  New  Boots. 

11  How  Some  People  Succeed  in  Corking  Up  Others. 

12  Blondin  Crossing  Niagara  River. 

13  Attending  to  the  Details  of  the  Army. 

14  The  Coon  Story,  or  What  Lincoln  Would  Like  to  do  with 

Jeff  Davis. 

READING  —  Lincoln's  Second  Inaugural  Address. 
SONG  —  "Foes  and  Friends." 
TRIBUTES  TO  LINCOLN  —  By   Alfred  Bayliss,  William  Howard  Taft, 

Theodore  Roosevelt. 

POEM  —  "A  Retrospect."     (Harry  H.  Kemp.) 
TALK  —  Description  of  the  National  Lincoln  Monument. 
TALK  — What  Shall  the  Centennial  Lincoln  Memorial  be?     (Review  of 

Reviews,  September,  1908.) 
POEM  —  "Lincoln."     (J.  L.  H.)     If  possible,  at  close  of  poem,  unveil 

a  new  bust  or  picture  of  Lincoln. 
PLEDGE  SALUTE  TO  THE  FLAG. 
SONG  —  "America." 


- 


Lincoln 

I.  N.  M. 

(An  exercise  for  seven  children) 
(Pupils  march  in,  singing  the  following  words  to  air,  "Amcric 

We  march  with  hearts  so  true, 
Our  tributes  to  renew 

To  a  hero  dear; 
His  life  we  emulate, 
We  crown  him  good  and  great; 
Each  year  we  celebrate 

His  life  so  dear. 

First  child  (holding  up  letter} 
L  stands  for  Lincoln. 

Second  child 

I  hear  he  was  always  generous,  loving,  and  honest. 

Third  child 
No  one  was  more  loyal  and  tender  than  he. 

Fourth  child 

Come  listen  to  the  stories  we  shall  tell  of  his  honest,  un- 
selfish devotion  to  his  country. 

Filth  child 

Our  Lincoln  is  a  good  example  of  the  lofty  patriot  and 

statesman. 

Sixth  child 

Like  him,  may  we  have  the  faith  that  "right  makes  might. 

Seventh  child  . 

Never  will  the  Nation  forget  how  he  preserved  the  Union. 

All 

O  Lincoln!   Great,  and  wise,  and  good, 

Our  homage  to  thee  is  due; 
And  may  we  ever  strive  to  become 

So  just,  so  loyal,  and  so  true. 


